THE OSPREY. 



21 



occasionally on the fall mi<^ration. The air 

 was peculiarlj' bland for the time of year; hence 

 I intimated that the tree-top performer may 

 have mistaken the season, intendinj^- to execute 

 a lyric to "beautiful sprint;-". However, I am 

 inclined to believe that this joyful and hardy 



musician has a sonf-;- for all times, if we but 

 chance to hear it; and tuning his harp to accord 

 with circumstances, he can burden the air with 

 a Hood of rinf,nn<,'- alto ilutings, or pipe dreamily 

 to his love in the gentlest ripples of melody. 



NESTING OF THE BALD EAGLE IN BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD. 

 I5v Wm. H. Fishek, Baltimore, Md. 



There are possibly eight or ten pairs of Eagles 

 which nest within a fifteen mile radius of Balti- 

 more, and the nest shown in the accompanying 

 photograph has been the object of frequent 

 visits from my friend F. C. Kirkwood and my- 

 self within the last few years. 



I first saw the nest of these birds on March 5, 

 1887, but I never had a chance to investigate 

 that one as is was shortly after blown down 

 from the Black Oak in which it was built. The 

 next time I went after them was in company 

 with Mr. Kirkwood, March 29, 1893, and after a 

 hard climb he reached the nest which was 80 feet 

 up in a large Red Oak that stood in a wet place 

 in the woods. The old bird flushed from the 

 nest when we were about 100 yards distant, and 

 flew round overhead "cackling," but keeping 

 well out of gun range. In about ten minutes 

 she was joined by her mate who circled round 

 with her. 



The two eggs which were in the nest were 

 about two-thirds incubated, and measured re- 

 spectively in inches 2.98 x 2.28 and 2.91 x 2.26. 



Size of nest, outsize dimensions on top, 5 feet 

 6 inches x 4 feet. Inside cup, 1 foot x 4)4 inches. 

 Heighth of nest 4 feet 5 inches. It was composed 

 of various sized sticks, and lined with straw, 

 dead grass, corn husks and dead leaves. 



March 8, 1894, we found the birds had built a 

 new nest about 300 yards from the old one which 



had disappeared. This one was 7.S feet 4 inches 

 up in a Black Oak, and the bird flushing when 

 we came in sight of her, Mr. Kirkwood adjusted 

 his climbing irons, and going up to the nest, 

 found the set to consist of the unusual number 

 of three eggs, very slightly incubated. 



Size of nest, outside, 4 feet 8 inches x 6 feet 

 6 inches. Height 3 feet. 



We only saw the one bird at the nest, and 

 later I heard that the male had been shot two 

 days prior to our taking the set of eggs. 



Visiting the nest March 21, 1895, we saw a 

 pair of birds near it, but found the nest empty. 



March 30. 1896, we found the nest was built 

 up about 20 inches, and thickly lined with duck 

 feathers. Two eggs were taken, one being 

 about one-fifth incubated, and the other very 

 nearly hatched. 



March 21, 1897, there were no birds seen in the 

 vicinity of the nest which evidently had not 

 been added to since last year. 



April 8, 1898, we saw an immature bird perched 

 on edge of nest where it seemed to be eating 

 part of a duck. When flushed it circled round 

 for awhile, but did not "cackle" as they have 

 always done when there were eggs, so as this 

 was the only bird seen we did not go up to the 

 nest. 



On one visit, April 2, 1899, we saw no signs of 

 the birds at all. 



WILD GUINEA FOWL OF BARBUDA. 

 By Frederick A. Ober. 



Long before The Ospkey was conceived, and 

 when its editor-in-chief was many 3'ears younger 

 than he is now, the writer was commissioned by 

 the Smithsonian Institution to "do" an ornitho- 

 logical exploration of the southernmost islands 

 of the Antilles known as the Caribees. 



It may have been luck, more probablj' it was 

 through the wise direction of the late lamented 

 Professor Baird, or of Professor Henry, whose 

 signature is on my commission; but, though I 

 went at the business rather blindly, and in a 

 somewhat bull-headed fashion, the result, at the 

 end of a two-years' trip, netted at least twenty 

 new birds, and many more somewhat rare that 

 the Institution had not possessed up to that time. 

 All the particulars of their capture, habits and 

 habitat, are given in the various "Reports" of 

 that time, as the birds were classified and de- 

 scribed by the then Nestor of American Orni- 

 thology, Mr. George N. Lawrence, of New York. 



The "popular" finds of my two-years' resi- 

 dence in the islands, of my life in the mountains 

 with the half-wild negroes and Carib Indians 

 were displayed in a book published twenty years 

 ago and called by me "Camps in the Caribees". 



As there are limitations to the ordinary book, 

 and as there was not room between its two 

 covers to cram in every adventure I met with, 

 my little excursion from Antigua to Barbuda 

 was left out, and in the course of time was for- 

 gotten. After a second voyage to the islands, 

 in which I discovered two more new birds and 

 completed my investigations into the avi-fauna 

 of that group, I switched off, the next year, to 

 Mexico, then to Spain, South America, and 

 other regions; so that the material left out of 

 my "Camps" lay for years unexploited, in a 

 literary way. 



Rece'ntlv, however, having a little leisure, 1 

 went thro'ugh my old note-books, and, amongst 

 other items long' since dismissed from memory, 

 found the material which I have embodied in 

 this sketch. 



It may be that some details are left out that 

 ought to go in; that some have gone in that 

 should have been left out; and perhaps I did not 

 shoot so many "fowls" as I imagine, at this 

 distance of tiine, fell to my unerring fowling- 

 piece. But that does not matter much; the 

 o-uinea-birds are still there; the fallow deer, the 



